Most dramas, specifically Korean school dramas, always go like this: There's a poor common girl and a rich guy who's the jackass heir to this impressively named company. The poor girl has a nice, loving, bubbly personality. Rich guy is cold, never laughs, and has rude-ass behavior. The poor girl gets into the same private school as the rich guy because she's suuuuuper smart. And she staaaaands up for herself. They just happen to meet each other at school somehow, sometimes because the poor girl calls him out (and noooooo one ever calls out the rich guy!!!), and the rich guy has his attention on her. At first the rich guy looks down at the poor girl, calls her a lowly commoner name all the time, and always seems annoyed with her. Then somewhere along the line, he starts to wonder why he thinks about the poor girl all the time. Yada yada yada, he starts getting shy around the poor girl. The poor girl then finds out that he has a "devastating" past.. a popular one is about his parents ignoring him during his childhood, which is never really elaborated.. AND THERE'S ALWAYS THE BITCHY RICH GRANDMOTHER. There is rarely a time where the poor girl's parents have a problem with the rich guy. How funny. Then the poor girl falls in love with the poor guy.. and it's either the poor girl or the rich guy who falls ill and then they get all panicky and then they realize their love for each other and HAPPILY EVER AFTER THE END.
On the contrast...
OHSHC has a very passive and very sarcastic poor girl and has a very bubbly, ADHD-ish rich guy. The rich guy embraces the poor girl at first sight. The sarcastic poor girl is very annoyed with rich people and think they're too extravagant, enters the school on solely academic purposes, and evidently loves to study and only study..
I'm not gonna go on too much on the differences but you know what I'm getting at, right? (There is the smart poor girl but the guys of the host club aren't stupid and rude either.) I've never really seen something like this so that fact already drew me in... But goddamn.. the anime was so hilarious I couldn't even catch my breath 'cause it kept making me laugh after a few lines... I remember I was screaming out loud at one point
I thought the host club never had any deeper intentions than just being a host club at first. (I thought it was just gonna be another similar Hana Yori Dango story) But I realized after awhile that they help all sorts of people to be happy, and that their motto to please others does not only apply to girls, and does not only apply to what host clubs usually do (if you know what I mean).
~By the way, I watched the drama with English subs because I seriously can't stand the dubbed version, contrary to popular beliefs. I feel Miyano Mamoru's voice fits Tamaki more.. it's slightly crazed (lol), like Tamaki's personality, and has a lightly husky undertone (me likey). Vic Mignogna is a great voice actor but I can't see Tamaki with his voice. His voice was perfect for Junpei from Persona 3, though. And the dubbed voice for Haruhi just pisses me off, I'm really sorry... I know she's supposed to be sarcastic, but the dubbed voice is the equivalent of Kristen Stewart's facial expressions in the first Twilight movie...
Oh yeah, the ending.. it was sort of a "that's it?" ending. I want a season 2 :( But I thoroughly enjoyed this anime. I haven't laughed like that for like.. almost two years.
My favorite host was Tamaki by the way.. my reasons are under the see more link 'cause of spoilers, hehe.
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Tamaki, I realized in all honesty, is kind of a complex character. Unlike many dramas I've watched, he was not neglected by his grandmother "just because" and without a reason. He was a child of a French mistress, and was pretty much forced into isolation by his grandmother for most of his life. He's called a filthy child. Can't even live in the main mansion with his father, and has to live in "Mansion #2." But despite constantly being oppressed by his grandmother, he never is hostile towards her and respects her just the same. He continues to try to gain her approval and acceptance into the Suoh family nonetheless.
I like him for his respect for people. Again, unlike many dramas I've watched, he doesn't push "commoners" away but is quite amazed by them. He "daringly" tries the instant coffee and ramen in a heartbeat and doesn't think of Haruhi badly when they first meet. Anyone who walks in the host club is accepted immediately. Even boys who accidentally stumble into the host club are accepted, lol.
He's pretty naive and child-like as well.. but mainly because of his deprived childhood and lack of sense of family. He takes hide-and-seek very seriously, plays Kick-the-Can very enthusiastically.. He has a "family concept" within the host club where he's the daddy, Kyoya's the mommy, the Hitachiin twins are his sons, Haruhi is his daughter, and Mori and Honey are the neighbors.. I found it so cute how he seriously considered his love for Haruhi as a "fatherly daughterly"love when it's evident to the people around him that it's not. He can read others but can't read himself...
He also can read people really well, which was shown in the episode where it flashes back to when Tamaki was recruiting the club members. Usually people backed off after a few lines of conversation with the secluded Hitachiin twins, or when they lost at the "Who's Hikaru" game.. but Tamaki just kept at the game no matter what the twins said to him (he really wanted the twins to be in the club) and became super annoying to them. The twins at one point said something really rude to Tamaki about his family (was it something about how he was half-French? I forgot). But though Tamaki was taken aback from it (which was what the twins wanted), the next day Tamaki put on the same face and continued to guess at the game as if nothing happened. Eventually Tamaki was able to understand the twins and give the same answer that the twins' former maid had said to them (about how no one would probably tell them apart), which totally penetrated through Hikaru and Kaoru's protective bubble. Though it wasn't directly said, Hikaru and Kaoru appreciated Tamaki's persistence. They ultimately gave Tamaki their trust and joined the club. With Honey-senpai, Tamaki asked Honey to join, understanding Honey's internal conflict between liking sweets and cute things (which was what Honey truly liked but didn't want to admit) and karate chopping badass-ness, and told Honey to accept who he was. That gave the push that Honey needed, and Honey joined (with an unlimited supply of kawaii things and cakes). With Kyoya, Tamaki just straight out said what Kyoya was keeping inside about being the third-son in the family (leading Kyoya to a brief slightly insane period of laughter...). Kyoya didn't expect this "baka" to understand things on that level. (and Mori-senpai just tagged along with Honey.) Tamaki helped the club members understand more about themselves, which I found quite touching.
I feel like Tamaki might have created the club to make some friends, but for the club members, it's something more than that.
People might call Tamaki just downright annoying, but I think the opposite. He's quite a hilarious but deep character at the same time. I'm amazed how his character can still be the way that it is even with his really controlling grandmother, and still be polite towards her. I think it's because of his mother? (Not sure.) I'd probably smack the living hell out of his grandmother, skip all the formalities.
I really like the other hosts too, though. I can't rank them... they're all precious and likable in their own ways (even Mori, who never really talks).
AND CAN I PLEASE EMPHASIZE THAT SCENE WITH HARUHI BEING ALL SCARED OF THE THUNDER AND HIDING IN THE CLOSET AND THEN SHE BURSTS THROUGH THE CLOSET DOOR RIGHT INTO TAMAKI'S ARMS OMFG THAT WAS THE BEST SCENE EVER /CRYING/
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